Packaging machine



PACKAGING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 50, 1960 June 25, 1963 s. M. DAVEY x-:TAL 3,094,826

l PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 25 1963 s. M. DAVEY ETAL 3,094,826

PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 E- maf/ww.

@mw/sf June 25, 1963 s. M. DAVEY ETAL PACKAGING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 30, 1960 .e my er iam @vw wf; ya 767.7

United States Patent O 3,094,826 PACKAGING MACHINE Sidney M. Davey, Ferndale, and Robert J. Ebbert and William R. McBride, Rochester, Mich.; said Ebbert and Said McBride assignors to said Davey Filed Dec. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 79,815 23 Claims. (Cl. 53-131) This invention relates to packaging machines, and more particularly to machines adapted to package articles such as paper money ybills in predetermined amounts. The subject matter of this application is related to that of Patent No. 2,847,810, issued August 19, 1958, to Sidney M. Davey and John G. Anderson.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved money packaging machine which is highly etiicient in operation and may operate at a high speed with a minimum danger of malfunction, despite variations in quality of the `bills that are fbeing handled.

It is another object to provide yan improved money packaging machine of the type using a paper band wrapped around each package, in which packages may be rapidly handled even though the paper hands may have slight variations in their folded shape.

It is a further object to provide an improved machine for stacking and banding predetermined paper currency packages which will automatically print indicia such as the name of the bank or the amount of money in the package on each band in an eicicnt manner without requiring the continuous attendance of an operator.

It is also an object to provide lan improved stacking, banding and printing apparatus of the above nature in which the printed matter will be accurately and consistently applied to 'all bands in the same relative location.

It is another object to provide an improved money packaging machine having the above characteristics, which includes means for separating good and bad packages at the exit station, land accumulating the sorted packages at two different locations.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a preferred form of the improved packaging machine, showing the supporting frame, tray conveyor, printing station and exit station;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the banding and printing stations;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the cam shaft, showing the cams and Geneva drive for the conveyor;

FIGURE 4 is a partially schematic view showing the first stage of the banding and sealing operation;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing the band in partially folded position with the hold-down arms engaging the package;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURES 4 and 5 showing the band completely folded with the sealing element engaging the overlapping band ends; `FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a tray showing a band and package therein;

FIGURE 8 is a view of the printing station showing the oscillating arm which carries the printing elements;

FIGURE 9 is a view taken along the line 9--9 of FIGURE 8 and showing the drive for the printing roll;

FIGURE l0 is a fragmentary view taken along the line 10-10 of FIGURE 9 and showing the cooperation lbetween the printing roller pin and its stop; and

FIGURE ll is a side elevational view of the exit station, showing the package lifting fingers and the sorting gate.

In general terms, the illustrated embodiment of the 3,094,826 Patented June 25, 1963 ICC invention comprises an elongated frame supporting an endless conveyor on which are mounted a plurality of trays arranged in tandem. The frame is of such height as to accommodate operators sitting or standing alongside the frame, who place bills in the trays as they move intermittently along the frame. A band feeding station is mounted at one end of the frame and adapted to feed paper bands in single succession to the trays, after which the trays receive the bills placed on top of the bands in stacked relation.

The banding and sealing station is located adjacent the other end of the frame, where the bands are folded over the package and sealed. The printing station is located vafter the Ibanding station, the printing station having a printing roller carrying indicia such as the name of the lbank issuing the packages and the total amount of the package. The printing roller is alternately raised and lowered, and in its raised position is rotated so as to receive ink. In its lowered position the printing rollers engage the band moving thereunder so that indicia are printed thereon. Novel stop means are provided for accurately locating t-he angular position of the printing roller for each package.

An exit station is located after the printing station, the exit station having fingers so located with respect to the tray and package as to lift the package from the tray and quickly withdraw it from' the conveyor. For this purpose the trays also have a novel configuration for cooperation with the fingers, the construction of the exit station elements eliminating the possibility of inaccurate -feedings due to -variations of the folded Iband shape or the quality of the currency. A sorting gate located after the fingers is movable between two positions to send the packages to either of two locations depending on whether the thickness of the packages is correct. The thickness measuring means and its associated parts do not in themselves form part of the present invention, but are disclosed in copending application Serial No. 79,815 'tiled Dec. 30, 1960, by Robert W. Branda, Sidney M. Davey, Robert J. Ebbert and William R. McBride, assigned to the assignee of the present application.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the machine is generally indicated at 11 and comprises a frame 12 of elongated shape having pairs of legs 13 and 14 which support the frame at some distance above the ground. This distance is sufficient to enable operators standing or sitting alongside of the -frarne to place paper currency of desired denominations in the trays moving therealong.

An endless chain conveyor 15 is supported by frame 12, this conveyor extending essentially from one end of the frame to the other. The conveyor is adapted to he driven 'by an electric motor 16, and carries a plurality of trays 17 thereon. These trays are upwardly open on the upper run of the conveyor and are accessible from the open top of the frame 12, as seen in FIGURE l.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 7, each tray has a flat bottom of the shape of a standard 4money bill, the long axis of this bottom surface extending transversely to the direction of conveyor movement. Each tray is provided with a pair of upwardly and slightly outwardly extending side walls 18 for locating the bills placed therein, a pair of upwardly extending rear anges 19 and a pair of upwardly extending forward ilanges 21. Flanges 19 and 21 are located adjacent the ends of the tray, and a pair of tabs 22 are spaced inwardly from flanges 19 so as to provide notches 23 bet-Ween portions 19 and 22. The purpose of these notches is to provide clearance ffor removing ngers to be described later with respect to the exit station.

Similar notches 24 are provided in the Iforward edge of tray 17, and a pair of Vforward extensions 25 having inwardly inclined and upwardly extending flanges 26' are disposed inwardly of notches 24. The inner edges of flanges 26 are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to a wrapping band, for purposes which will later appear. A central for-ward extension 27 is disposed between extensions 25 for receiving the band, this extension having an upwardly extending flange 28 at its forward end.

The machine is provided with a band feeding station generally indicated at 29, a band folding and sealing section generally indicated at 31, a printing station generally indicated at 32, a package removing or exit station generally indicated at 33, a thickness measuring station generally indicated at 34 and a sorting station generally indicated at 35 in FIGURE l. Band feeding section 29 carries an inclined band holding assembly 36 of a known type, such as one manufactured by the Pitney Bowes Corporation. This apparatus is adapted to feed bands in single succession to trays 17 passing thereunder, the bands being fed with their long axis in the direction of tray movement.

The trays are moved intermittently by means of a Geneva stop mechanism driven by motors 16. FIGURE 3 shows a -pair of driving sprockets 37 and 38 for driving the chains of conveyor 15, these sprockets being mounted on a shaft 39' which carries a Geneva plate 41. A cam shaft 42 rotatably mounted on frame 12 in spaced parallel relation with shaft 39 carries a Geneva crank 43, shaft 42 being driven by motor 116. A cam follower pivot shaft 44 is mounted adjacent shaft 42 and carries cam followers to be described later with respect to the various stations.

A paper band is indicated at 45 in FIGURE 4, and after being fed from apparatus 36 will engage flange 28 on extension 27 and will occupy the position shown in FIGURE 7. During movement of band 45 onto the tray, it will be 4guided by extensions 25 and flanges 26 so as to prevent any curved bands from being caught under the tray. After the band is placed on the tray, the tray will move intermittently along fra-me 12 so that the individual operators positioned alongside the frame may place bills in the tray. For example, if in series of $50 packages are being produced, three operators may stand alongside frame 12, two of the operators placing one $20 bill each in the tray and the third operator a $10 bill.

When each tray reaches banding station 31, the opposite ends of the band will be folded over and sealed. IFor this purpose a pair of forward banding fingers 46 and a banding finger 47 are provided. in addition, a pair of currency hold-down arms 48 are disposed above the tray, along with a heat sealing unit 49.

Hold-down arms 48- are pivoted at 51 forwardly of the banding station and have straight lower edges 52 engageable with the money along both sides of the band. The positions of the hold-down arm edges 52 are shown schematically in FIGURE 7. The intermediate portions of arms 48 are so shaped as to clear the forward portion of trays 17, as seen in FIGURES 4, and 6. The holddown arms are actuated by an arm 53 secured to pivot 51, this arm being moved by a link 54 connected to a bell crank 55 on shaft 44. This bell crank carries a roller 56 en'gageable with a cam`57 as seen in FIGURE 3, this cam .being secured to shaft 42.

yForward fingers 46 are carried by a member 58 and are spaced so as to clear forward extension 27 of tray 17; the location of these fingers is shown schematically in FIGURE 7. Member 58 has a link 59 connected to an intermediate portion thereof, the other end of this link being stationarily pivoted at 61. The lower end of member 58 is connected to a bell crank 62 stationarily pivoted at 63. Bell crank 62 is connected by a link 64 to a bell crank 65 on shaft 44 carrying a roller 66 engageable with a cam 67 as seen in FIGURE 3. Rear finger 47 is similarly connected to a bell crank 68 actuated by a cam 69, cams 67 and 69 being mounted on shaft 42. Heat sealing -unit 49, which may be electrical-ly heated, is pivoted by arm 71 actuatable by a cam 72 mounted on shaft 42 through a follower 73 carried by shaft 44 and appropriate linkage.

The cams which control the movement of hold-down arms 48, fingers 46 and 47, and heat sealing unit 49, together with the linkage means supporting these components, are so arranged as to fold the forward and rearward ends of band 45 in overlapping relation while the currency is being held down, and then apply heat to these overlapping ends to cause them to adhere because of -the 4presence of a previously applied adhesive substance on the band. The sequence 4of movement of these parts is seen in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, fingers 46 first folding the forward end of band 45 upwardly and rearwardly, and finger 47 -then -folding the rearward end of the band forwardly in overlapping relation with its forward end.

As the bands are overlapped, sealing element 49 will be lowered to contact the band, the hold-down and folding fingers being withdrawn while the heating element is in contact with the band. The dwell of the sealing element may be approximately one-tenth of a second, after which it is withdrawn, allowing another tray to be indexed into position.

After each tray has passed banding station 31 it passes through printing station 32, shown in FIGURES 2, 8, 9 and 10. The printing station includes an arm 74 secured to a shaft 75 extending transversely above the conveyor and pivotally supported by brackets 76 and 77, as seen in FIGURE 2. Arm 74 extends toward the exit end of the conveyor, and shaft is rockable by an arm 78 secured thereto, this ar-m being connected by a link 79 to a bell crank 81 mounted on cam follower shaft 44. This bell crank 81 is engageable with a cam 82 mounted on cam shaft 42 as seen in lFIGURE 3, this cam being so shaped as to cause arm 7'4 to be rockable between an upper or inking position as shown in solid lines in FIG- URE 8 and a lower or printing position shown in dot-dash lines in this figure.

The outer end of arm 74 carries :a printing roller 83 on one side thereof. The central portion of this printing roller is adapted to receive type such as interchangeable rubber type so that a legend, such as the name of the issuing bank and the total -amount of each package, may be set up. The printing roller also carries a pair of side flanges 84 of lesser diameter than the central portion, these flanges being adapted to be driven by a driving roller 85 having complementary flanges 86. This driving roller is secured to a shaft 87 carried by a pair of upwardly extending portions 88 and `89 on frame 12 as seen in FIGURE V2. Portion 88 is in the form of a housing enclosing a pinion 91 secured to one end of shaft 87, this pinion being driven by a larger gear 92 carried by -a shaft 93 rotatably mounted below shaft 87. The inner end of shaft 93 carries a sprocket 94 driven by a chain 95 from a lower sprocket 96 on a shaft 42 beneath the conveyor, this shaft being driven by motor 16. Roller S5 will be constantly driven at a relatively rapid rate, and when arm 74 is in Vits upper or inking position, the engagement of flanges 84 of roller 83 with flanges 86 of roller 85 will cause roller 83 to be frictionally driven in a counterblockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 8.

Roller 83 also carries a pin 98 extending toward support 88, and this pin is adapted to engage a stop 99 extending toward roller 83 from support 88. Pin 98 will only engage stop 99 when roller 83 is in its upper position, but will pass clear of the stop when roller 83 is in its lower or printing position; this is shown clearly in FIGURE 10. The rotation of roller 83 by its frictional engagement with roller 85 will therefore be halted by engagement of pin 98 with stop 99, and these two parts are. so located as to cause the type carried by roller 33 to come into registry with respect to the next band to be imprinted. When arm 74 is swung clockwise from its solid. line position in FIGURE 8, roller 83 will leave its drive ing connection with the roller 85 and the type on the roller will come into engagement with a band 45 on a package at the printing station. Movement of the conveyor will then cause rotation of roller 83 so that its type will be rolled against the band. Cam 82 is so shaped as to cause arm 74 to be lifted to its inking position after the package has left roller 83.

An inking roller 101 is carried by the inner end of arm 74, this roller carrying a supply of ink and being in constant engagement with a transfer roller 102 in frictional contact with both roller 101 and printing roller 83. Both rollers 101 and 102 will be automatically rotated whenever roller 83 is rotated.

Exit station 33 is seen best in FIGURE l1 and is located immediately past sprockets 37 and 38. The exit station includes a pair of fingers 103 movable between a ready position shown in dotdash lines in FIGURE 1l and a lifting position shown -in solid lines. These fingers are secured at their ends 104 to two members 105 mounted on a shaft 106. This shaft has an arm 107 connected by a link 108 to a bell crank 109 operated by a cam 111 mounted on shaft 42. Bell crank 109 is urged by a spring 112 in a counterclockwise direction so as to urge fingers 103 toward their lifting position. When bell crank 109 is rotated clockwise by cam 111, fingers 103 will be moved to their ready position. Bell crank 109 is stationarily pivoted at 113 -above shaft 39.

A plurality of rollers 114 to 119 are mounted transversely on a downward vincline past lingers 103, these rollers being driven from motor 16 by means not shown. The rollers have idler rollers beneath them numbered 121 through 126. Rollers 12-1 are mounted on a pivot 120 carried by lingers 103. Rollers 123 constitute part of a thickness measuring apparatus which is not described in detail but is the subject of the aforementioned copending application. Rollers 122 through 126 are adjacent a downwardly inclined plate 127 along which packages 105 will be moved by the rollers.

When each package is lifted from tray 17 by fingers 103, it will quickly slide down between rollers 114 and 121. Each pair of rollers 114 through 119, and the corresponding rollers 121 through 126 comprises two rollers; the positions of rollers 114 are shown in FIGURES 2 and 7. It will be seen from FIGURE 7 that not only fingers 103 but also rollers 114 engage the currency rather than the band surrounding the currency. This fact, plus the action of the back of tray 17 and the fast movement of the Geneva mechanism in pushing package 105 between rollers 114 and 121 will insure rapid and efficient exit of each package. The fact that the rollers do not engage the band but engage the money instead, will prevent bands which have rounded instead of flat folds from causing any delay in entry between the rollers. The fact that a band may not be folded along an exact transverse line but is folded along an inclined line will also not present any problem, since the driving rolls will not engage the band; otherwise, this could cause an angular shift in the package. The fact that fingers 103 lift against the underside of the lowermost bill in the package will also prevent any problems due to limp or drooping bills which might not otherwise be able to enter between the exit rollers. After each package 105 has passed fingers 103, the fingers will be lowered in readiness for a package on the next tray.

A compartment 128 for acceptable packages and a compartment 129 for rejected packages are provided at sorting station 35. The packages are sorted by a shiftable ramp 131 which forms a continuation of ramp 127 when in its solid line position of FIGURE 11, but is shiftable clockwise to a dot-dash line or reject position. When in its solid line position, packages 105 will flow into compartment 128, but when the ramp is in its reject position, the packages will fall from ramp 127 down into compartment 129. Ramp 131 is controlled by the thickness 6, measuring mechanism described in detail in the afore mentioned copending application.

In operation, bands 45 will be stacked in holder 36 and will be fed in single succession to trays 17. As the trays pass the operators alongside the apparatus, bills will be placed across bands within the trays. As each tray reaches wrapping station 31, the bands will be folded and sealed, and will then move past the printing station where the bands will receive printed indicia from printing roller 83. The trays will then pass to exit station 33 where fingers 103 will lift packages 105 from the trays, the packages entering between rollers 114 and 121 and being driven downwardly by the other rollers along ramp 127. The packages will be received -by either compartment 128 or 129, depending upon position of ramp 131 as controlled by the thickness measuring apparatus.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, -it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from thel proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a. machine for wrapping paper currency, an endless conveyor having upper and lower flights, a plurality of trays mounted on said conveyor, each tray having a flat bottom approximately the size of paper currency with the long axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, side, front and rear walls on each tray, central recessed portions in the front and rear walls, a band feeding station at one end of the upper flight of said conveyor adapted to feed fiat paper bands in single succession onto said trays in the direction of conveyor movement, said bands extending beyond said front and rear walls through said recessed portions, a forward extension on each tray in the plane of the tray bottom and extending from said front recessed portion, an upward extension on the outer end of said forward extension, whereby the forward extension is adapted to locate a band, a band wrapping station at the other end of said upper conveyor flight, fingers at said band wrapping station, and means for moving said fingers upwardly and within the said recessed portions to fold the ends of said bands over currency placed thereon in said tray.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said forward extension being within and narrower than said forward recessed portion, a pair of forward extensions on opposite sides of and spaced from said first-mentioned forward tray extension, and inwardly inclined and upwardly extending ends on said pair of forward extensions, the space between the closest portions of said 4inclined ends being substantially equal to the width of a band.

3. In a machine for wrapping paper currency, an endless conveyor having upper and lower flights, a plurality of trays on said conveyor, each tray being approximately the shape of paper currency with the long axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, a band feeding station at the beginning of the upper conveyor ight adapted to feed at paper bands in single succession, means for intermittently moving said conveyor, each tray having means for receiving a band placed thereon at said band feeding station in fiat position with the forward and rearward ends of said band extending beyond the main tray portion, whereby paper currency may be placed in the tray on a band held thereby after the tray leaves the band feeding station, a wrapping station, hold-down means at said wrapping station for pressing said currency against said tray on opposite sides of said band, fingers at said wrapping station for folding the forward and rearward ends of said bands up and over the currency in said tray into overlapping relation, and means for sealing said overlapped band ends.

4. The combination according to claim 3, said fingers comprising members disposed beneath the upper flight of said conveyor forwardly and rearwardly of a tray at said wrapping station, and an actuating linkage supporting each member for movement between a retracted position below the upper flight of said conveyor and a folding position above said upper flight and toward the center of a tray at said wrapping station and in partial overlappin-g relation with -the front and the rear edges of said tray.

5. The combination according to claim 3, further provided with a printing station adjacent said wrapping station, and means responsive to movement of each tray with a wrapped package past said printing station for imprinting a legend on the upper exposed band surface.

6. In a machine for wrapping stacked sheets, an endless conveyor having upper and lower flights, a plurality of trays mounted on said conveyor, each tray having a bottom approximately the size of the sheets to be stacked, side, front and rear walls on each tray, central recessed portions in the front and rear Walls, a band feeding station at one end of the upper flight of said conveyor and adapted to -feed flat paper bands in single succession onto said trays in the direction of conveyor movement, said bands extending beyond said front and rear walls through said recessed portions, a forward extension on each tray extending from said front recessed portion, an upward extenison on the outer end of said forward extension, whereby the forward extension is adapted to locate a band, a band wrapping station at the other end of said upper conveyor ight, fingers at said wrapping station, and means for moving said fingers upwardly and within said recessed portions to `fold the ends of said bands over sheets placed thereon in said tray.

7. The combination according to claim 6, further provided with a printing station past said wrapping station, a printing roller at said printing station above trays passing therethrough, said roller being rotatable on an axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, and means for moving said roller between a retracted position spaced above said conveyor and a printing position in engagement with the upper surface of a band on a wrapped package in a -tray passing thereunder.

8. In a machine for packaging paper currency or the like, an elongated frame, an endless conveyor on said frame, a plurality of trays on said conveyor having substantially the shape of paper currency with the long axis transverse to 'the conveyor, means carried by said frame at the beginning of the upper conveyor flight for feeding flat paper bands in single succession onto said trays with said bands extending transversely to the long tray axis, the length of said frame being sufficient to permit access to trays carrying bands for the purpose of placing paper currency in said trays over said bands, a `wrapping station at the other end of said frame, means at said wrapping station for folding the ends of said band upwardly and inwardly over the paper currency in said tray, an exit station past said wrapping station, and fingers at said exit station movable from a retracted position to a position lifting each package out of its tray.

9. In a packaging device, a conveyor, means on said conveyor for carrying individual packages, means for imprinting a legend on each package comprising a printing roller, means supporting said roller yfor movement between a tirst position away lfrom said conveyor and a second position against a package carried by said conveyor, and means responsive lto movement of said roller Ito its rst position for rotating said roller to a predetermined angular position, said last-mentioned means comprising a continuously driven roller engageable by said printing roller when in its iirst position, a stationary stop, and a portion on said printing roller engageable with said stationary stop when the printing roller is in its first position and is rotated to a predetermined angular position, said stop being non-interfering relation with said printing roller portion when said printing roller is moved from its first to its second position.

l0. The combination according to claim 8, further provided with a sorting station past said exit station, first and second compartments at said` sorting station, and shiftable means for diverting each package removed at said exit station to either one or the other of said compartments.

11. In a machine for packaging paper currency, an endless conveyor, a plurality of trays carried by said conveyor, each tray having substantially the shape of paper currency, a band feeding station at the beginning of the upper iiight of said conveyor, means at said band feeding station for placing a at paper band on each tray passing therethrough with the band extending transversely to the long tray axis, a band wrapping station, the conveyor distance between said band feeding station and said wrapping station being sufficient to permit access to the tray for the purpose of placing bills thereon over said band, means at said band wrapping station for folding the ends of said band upwardly and inwardly over bills resting thereon and for securing the band ends together, a printing station past said wrapping station, means at said printing station for engaging only the upper surfaces of bands on wrapped packages to imprint a legend thereon, an exit station past said printing station, means at exit station for removing wrapped packages from said trays, a sorting station past said exit station, and shiftable means at said sorting station for diverting each package to either of two locations.

l2. In a packaging device, a conveyor, means on said conveyor for carrying individual packages, means for imprinting a legend on each package comprising a printing roller, means supporting said roller for movement between a first position away from said conveyor and a second position against a moving package carried by said conveyor, and means responsive to movement of said roller to its first position for rotating said roller to a predetermined angular position comprising rotating means connectible to said roller when the roller is in its first position, and a stop for said roller when the roller is rotated to a predetermined angular position While in said first position, said stop being a noninterfering relation with said roller when the latter is in its second position.

13. The combination according to claim 9, the printing roller being frictionally engageable with a package moving thereunder when in its second position, whereby a legend carried by said printing roller will roll along said package to be imprinted thereon.

14. The combination according to claim 9, said stop comprising a member extending in the direction of the printing roller axis, said printing roller portion comprising a pin engageable with said stop when the printing roller is in its rst position.

l5. In a machine for packaging paper currency or the like, an endless conveyor, a plurality of trays carried by said conveyor, means for placing a band in each tray, means for wrapping each band around paper currency placed in its tray, a printing station having a pivoted arm above said conveyor, a printing roller rotatably mounted on Said arm on an axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, inking means carried by said arm and engageable with said printing roller, means for rocking said arm between a first position in which the printing roller is raised above the conveyor and a printing position in which the printing roller is lowered onto the band of a package moving thereunder, continuously rotatable means engageable by said printing roller when in its upper position to rotate the printing roller, and a stop engageable by a portion of the printing rolier when moved to a predetermined angular position by said driving means, said printing roller portion being disengageable from said stop when the printing roller is moved to its second position.

16. In a machine for packaging paper currency or the like, an endless conveyor on sprockets, a plurality of trays on said conveyor having substantially the shape`of paper currency with the long tray axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, means for wrapping a band around paper currency placed in said trays, said band being of predetermined width and extending in the direction of conveyor movement, an exit station for removing packages from said trays immediately past the sprocket toward which the upper conveyor flight moves, and a pair of fingers at said exit station engageable with the underside of each wrapped currency package, said fingers being spaced apart .a distance greater than predetermined band width.

17. In a machine for packaging paper currency or the like, an endless conveyor on sprockets, a plurality of trays on said conveyor having substantially the shape of paper currency with the long tray axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, means for Wrapping a band around paper currency placed in said trays, said band being of predetermined width and extending in the direction of conveyor movement, an exit station for removing packages from said trays immediately past the sprocket toward which the upper conveyor flight moves, each tray having a rear wall engageable with the rear edge of each package to push the package forwardly as the tray rounds said last-mentioned sprocket, and a pair of fingers at said exit station engageable with the underside of each wrapped currency package, said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than predetermined band width.

18. In a machine for packaging paper currency or the like, an endless conveyor on sprockets, a plurality of trays on said conveyor having substantially the shape of paper currency with the long tray axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, means for wrapping a band around paper currency placed in said trays, said band being of predetermined width and extending in the direction of conveyor movement, an exit station for re moving packages from said trays immediately past the sprocket toward which the upper conveyor iiight moves, and a pair of fingers at said exit station engageable with the underside of each wrapped currency package, said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than predetermined band width, said tray having a flat bottom with a pair of recessed portions at the forward edge there` of to receive said fingers.

19. The combination `according to claim 18, further provided with means for shifting said fingers between a lower position and an upper position lifting said packages out of said tray.

20. In a machine for packaging paper currency or the like, an endless conveyor -on sprockets, a plurality of trays on said conveyor having substantially the shape of paper currency with the long tray axis transverse to the direction of conveyor movement, means for wrapping a band around paper currency placed in said trays, said band -being of predetermined width and extending in the direction of conveyor movement, an exit station for removing packages from said trays ,immediately past the sprocket toward which the upper conveyor fiight moves, a pair of fingers at said exit station engageable with the underside of each wrapped currency package, said fingers being spaced apart a distance greater than predetermined band width and being downwardly and forwardly inclined, and a plurality of driven rollers adjacent said lingers and engageable on opposite sides of said band with a package lifted by and sliding along the fingers.

21. ln an apparatus for wrapping packages of paper currency or the like, an endless conveyor, trays on said conveyor for receiving a stack of paper currency, means for wrapping a band around each stack of currency with the band being of predetermined width and extending in the direction of conveyor movement, a pair of down` wardly and forwardly inclined fingers pivoted at the exit end of said conveyor, means for reciprocating said fingers between lower and upper positions, the spacing between said fingers being greater than said predetermined band width, recessed portions on said trays for permitting said fingers to engage the undersides of packages on opposite sides of said bands, a rear wall on each tray for pushing packages lifted therefrom down along said fingers, and at least one pair of driven rollers above said fingers and engageable on opposite sides of said band with packages sliding down along said fingers.

22. This combination according to claim 2l, further provided with a pair of idling rollers rotatably carried by said fingers and counteracting the force exerted by said driven rollers.

.23. The combination according to claim 2l, further provided with a downwardly and forwardly inclined ramp aligned with said fingers, and rollers above and below said ramp engageable with packages thereon to move the packages along said ramp.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,838,153 Phelps Dec. 29, 1931 1,880,926 Egenolf Oct. 4, 1932 2,847,810 Davey Aug. 19, 1958 2,866,307 Rigg Dec, 30, 1958 2,879,636 Zuercher Mar. 31, 1959 2,903,831 Hershey Sept. 15, 1959 2,908,219 Clauss Oct. 13, 1959 

1. IN A MACHINE FOR WRAPPING PAPER CURRENCY, AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR HAVING UPPER AND LOWER FLIGHTS, A PLURALITY OF TRAYS MOUNTED ON SAID CONVEYOR, EACH TRAY HAVING A FLAT BOTTOM APPROXIMATELY THE SIZE OF PAPER CURRENCY WITH THE LONG AXIS TRANSVERSE TO THE DIRECTION OF CONVEYOR MOVEMENT, SIDE, FRONT AND REAR WALLS ON EACH TRAY, CENTRAL RECESSED PORTIONS IN THE FRONT AND REAR WALLS, A BAND FEEDING STATION AT ONE END OF THE UPPER FLIGHT OF SAID CONVEYOR ADAPTED TO FEED FLAT PAPER BANDS IN SINGLE SUCCESSION ONTO SAID TRAYS IN THE DIRECTION OF CONVEYOR MOVEMENT, SAID BANDS EXTENDING BEYOND SAID FRONT AND REAR WALLS THROUGH SAID RECESSED PORTIONS, A FORWARD EXTENSION ON EACH TRAY IN THE PLANE OF THE TRAY BOTTOM AND EXTENDING FROM SAID FRONT RECESSED PORTION, AN UPWARD EXTENSION ON THE OUTER END OF SAID FORWARD EXTENSION, WHEREBY THE FORWARD EXTENSION IS ADAPTED TO LOCATE A BAND, A BAND WRAPPING STATION AT THE OTHER END OF SAID UPPER CONVEYOR FLIGHT, FINGERS AT SAID BAND WRAPPING STATION, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FINGERS UPWARDLY AND WITHIN THE SAID RECESSED PORTIONS TO FOLD THE ENDS OF SAID BANDS OVER CURRENCY PLACED THEREON IN SAID TRAY. 